


Goodnight, Superman

by FadedSepia



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Comforting Wufei, Gen, Spoilers for a 19 Year Old Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 15:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14876133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadedSepia/pseuds/FadedSepia
Summary: He hadn't expected something so therapeutic to come out of pre-colony movie night. Animated children's films work well for their schedules - most are under 90 minutes - and the bright colours are a nice contrast to bland grey walls and the smell of smoke. Certainly, Heero isn't active on missions the way the rest of them are, but he's the one that’s always called in when things get messy.





	Goodnight, Superman

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a 500 word drabble challenge, but wound up a tad longer to make it sensible.
> 
> If you haven't seen 'The Iron Giant' (1999, Warner Bros, Dir: Brad Bird): 1) This story might be confusing and will spoil the ending; 2) You should go watch that movie because it's awesome and you will feel such feelings.
> 
> Thanks to lbro009 for beta-reading and helping with the story flow!

Heero shuffles into WuFei’s apartment, tripping out of his shoes, and collapses onto the sofa. By the time WuFei has brought out the evening's snacks, the other agent has slipped off his uniform jacket and stretched out across the couch.

“We can watch your favourite?” WuFei hands the blue-eyed man a cup of hot chocolate, setting his plate of take-and-bake casserole on the low table in front of him. Heero nods, sipping delicately from the mug.

“Please?” His permanent brow furrow ruins the whipped cream moustache. “Long day.”

“Ah. Scoot.” He pushes Heero's feet to the side so as not to sit on them. WuFei is already thumbing through the bookmarked movies, sorted by studio, until he reaches the Ws. Once it starts rolling, he goes back to get his own food, opting for a plain glass if milk.

He hadn't expected something so therapeutic to come out of pre-colony movie night. They'd begun the tradition when Heero started staying over for occasional diplomatic missions. WuFei had been taking a class on historic animated films, and Heero had offered to watch along while he took his notes. 

Animated children's films work well for their schedules - most are under 90 minutes - and the bright colours are a nice contrast to bland grey walls and the smell of smoke. Certainly, Heero isn't active on missions the way the rest of them are, but he's the one that’s always called in when things get messy.

He settles his plate on his lap, legs crossed, and gets comfortable just as the animated boat captain starts screaming. They both now know most of the lines by heart, so WuFei is only half paying attention, waiting for his guest to relax.

\\-/-\\-/

WuFei asked about why _this_ was his go-to movie only once, though the answer shouldn’t have surprised him.

It wasn't the young, brown-haired boy with his awkward charm and nervous laugh that sparked Heero’s interest. It was the hulking, grumbling monster that drew him in; the feckless, sweetly naive giant with no past and an uncertain future. The terrifying mechanical _thing_ , redeemed because he decided to become more than just a tool. _‘You are what you choose to be.’_

“That scene… At the end, with Mansley and the army." Heero’s voice was so unsteady, so small.

WuFei had nodded. In that scene, the giant metal man, confronted with an array of weapons, had panicked. Responding to his self-protective instinct, he’d pulled, seemingly from nowhere, an array of guns and other weapons, and nearly killed his only friend.

"That's what it's like.” Heero had drawn his knees in close, chin down as he spoke. “Every time I'm out in the field, it's like I lose myself, and just default back to that. Not because I want to, but because that's what I really am…”

\\-/-\\-/

The tears usually start with the dead deer, and Heero’s always misty-eyed when the metal man is stargazing, as he whispers along with the dialogue. ‘ _Souls don't die.’_

The crying then usually tapers off for the most part until the end; that’s when the sniffles really start in earnest. If Heero hasn't started up again by the finger waggle just before the giant flies off -‘ _No following_ ’,- it's only because he's so emotionally exhausted that he's already fallen asleep.

Tonight is one of the sleeping nights, with Heero passed out on his end of the couch, face tear-stained but smiling. He hasn't touched his dinner, though his mug is empty. He'll be hungry in the morning.

WuFei turns off the screen as the end credits begin to roll. After a few minutes of rearranging, he's laid his guest out across the couch. The shorter man is clutching a bolster, grumbling as he drifts back down to full sleep. WuFei tucks one of his quilts around him, up to Heero's shoulders, and turns off the lights.

He pauses just outside his own room, casting one last glance back to his sleeping friend with a smile. “Goodnight, Superman.”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, major spoiler. At the end of 'The Iron Giant,' the Giant flies off to stop an atomic bomb and prove he's good. If you listen carefully, Hogarth (the little boy) says, in voice over 'You are what you choose to be,' and the Giant's last word in the film (before he 'dies') is him responding 'Superman.' WuFei can probably recite the film from memory by now.


End file.
